A Victorian house which has been largely hidden from public view will finally reveal some of its secrets to the public in 2013. It is is officially handed over to the care of the National Trust on Friday.

I have asked my friend Ari what he will do this year.
Ari lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire UK

me: Ari, as you celebrate this Hindu holiday, can you tell us about it?

Ari : If you have been recently greeted by the phrase Happy Diwali then it must be Diwali. This phrase is heard around this time of year and is the greeting by Hindus during the Hindu festival of Diwali (aka Deepawali).
It signifies a 5 day festival with Dewali being the 3rd day, this year it falls on Tuesday 13th November.
It is a festival generally known as the festival of lights, spiritually it is Light winning over Dark, or Good over Evil. It’s Knowledge over Ignorance. The celebration of inner light. It also signified the Hindu New year and is harvest time in many regions of India. Each region has its variations to how they celebrate the festival. But they all have sweets, fire crackers and little oil lamps (known as Diyas) that are lit.

Gifts are exchanged between family and friends to wish each other a happy, wealthy and peaceful Diwali.

It’s the dedication to Saraswati, the goddess of Knowledge;the ultimate wealth as it can not be stolen from you and it overcomes ignorance.

me: Does your whole family celebrate it?

Ari: Yes the whole family celebrates it….we share sweets and light lamps
We pass sweets to everyone we know.
It’s also a celebration to Lakshmi,goddess of wealth who visits homes on this day.
So to welcome Her into our homes the doorstep is decorated with a floor painting,known as a Rangoli design. Various designs are done.